


He's Back

by TheDarkChocolateLord



Series: Keeptober 2020 [3]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:06:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkChocolateLord/pseuds/TheDarkChocolateLord
Summary: What if, in Neverseen when Fintan revealed that he was alive, Terik couldn't hold Oralie back?What if Bronte had to inflict on his brother to protect his friend?This is Pyren Bros AU compliant; credit for this AU goes to @bronte-deserves-better on Tumblr
Relationships: Councillor Bronte & Councillor Oralie (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
Series: Keeptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973125
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	He's Back

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Keeptober 2020 for the prompt 'Everblaze', and yes, it's a Neverseen AU, but Fintan uses Everblaze in this, plus I have author powers.

"Surprise." 

The cloaked figure throws back his hood, revealing fragile features and sky-blue eyes— _ no, it's impossible _ —and there's Bronte's little brother, watching his ball of Everblaze like it's the most important thing in the world.

The same little brother who used to look at Bronte that way.

The same little brother who Bronte was  _ sure  _ had died, on that night a few months ago when so many things had gone wrong.

_ Fintan. _

Through the corner of his eye, Oralie's expression flickers from shock to panic to rage to reckless determination, the exact expression Bronte has seen on Sophie so many times; she breaks free from Terik's grip and kicks off the ground to levitate, heading straight for Fintan.

_ No. _

He can't let her die, can't lose another friend to his brother's flames, and in that instant, Fintan's expression flickers, his orb of Everblaze shrinks, his careful mask of arrogance solidifies into shock; he's stunned for a miniscule moment, and that moment is all Bronte needs.

He kicks off the ground as well, levitating higher and higher as he dives into his darkest memories— _ the night he and Fintan got thrown out, the night he let his power take over and inflicted on his mom, the night Kenric died— _

Fintan readies his ball of flames.

_ You know what you have to do. _

He's almost level with the top of the building by now, and as Fintan curls his hand to launch the Everblaze at Oralie, Bronte lets his emotions go.

Hate and anger and fury stream out of his mind and into Fintan's; the emotional knot he's kept tied up for millenia loosens with every negative emotion he inflicts on his brother. Memories flash by with every emotion that streams out of him: Fintan as a child, Fintan as a teenager who just manifested, Fintan as a reckless young adult, but even though it makes Bronte's stomach twist and his chest tighten, even though it feels like the negative emotions are going to crush him into dust, he keeps pushing until—

Fintan barely manages to pull out a crystal and disappear in a shower of gleaming yellow glitter.

_ No. _

And then he's falling, closer and closer to the ground, his concentration gone, his  _ everything  _ gone, buildings and trees flashing by as blurs of color, and he tries to levitate again but it's not working, he's going to crash, he's going to  _ die _ , and—

—he's four feet above the metal stage, gently drifting to the ground.

"Telekinesis," Oralie explains as he touches down.

She's  _ there, _ she's unscathed and she's standing by him, she saved his life, and he wants to hug her for a million different reasons, but before he can say anything, King Dimitar holds up a test tube filled with a muddy liquid, shouting over the chaos of the crowd. "THERE IS A CURE TO THE PLAGUE—NO THANKS TO THE COUNCIL! THE PANAKES BARK IS NOT ALL GONE!"

_ What? _

"Test this sample," Dimitar shouts as he gestures to the test tube. "If the gnomes agree to leave the Lost Cities and serve in Ravagog, they can have the full cure. If not—" he flings the sample tube at the gnomes "—enjoy dying, knowing that the Council stood by their ridiculous excuses and didn't do anything to save you. You have a week."

Cackling, he vanishes into the ground.

The gnomes struggle to catch the tube before it smashes against the grass; Noland yells that they were acting according to the gnomish leaders' wishes; the crowd is now a mass of chaos and panic. Twigs and dirt fly every which way as the gnomes call the tree roots to take them to Lumenaria; elves are light-leaping away by the second.

Bronte's barely conscious of the chaos.

_ Remember that night so many years ago when you lost control and inflicted on your mom, and you got so scared, and promised Fintan a million times over that you'd never hurt him like that? _

_ Remember how the two of you promised that you would never, ever hurt each other? And how when Fintan broke that promise when he turned evil, you promised yourself that you'd be the better person? _

_ Remember how when you thought he died, a tiny part of you was holding out hope that he'd survived? That you could get your brother back? _

_ Only now he's back, and you broke your promise. _

_ Now he's back, and he's still with the Neverseen. _

_ Now he's back, and you had to inflict on him to protect your best friend. _

Fintan Pyren is alive, but Bronte's little brother is gone. 

  
  



End file.
